Ed Storms wrote on 1-28-08: Some problems have no solution. That is not the issue. It's the attempt to solve a problem that is important. Finding a substitute for oil, for example, may not impact the climate much but it will have many other benefits ...
Jack Smith writes: It is critical that we get off oil no matter where it comes from. For Americans, this is the issue of highest national security. As the world oil glut tips the price of oil into a precipitous drop, the chance is better than 50% that Bush will attack the Iranian oil fields before November, 2008, to reduce supply, even at the risk of closing the Straits of Hormuz, which shouldn't bother Dubai that ?doesn't have oil? Jones Beene wrote on 1-28-08: BTW - to the word-phreak, Dubai is this strange little oil-poor, but asset-rich, emirate on the Gulf (both Persian and Texan, by abstraction) which is pronounced the same as its essential mandate: Do-Buy ... [Jerome] Kerviel is the so-called "rogue" trader (or scapegoat) who is taking the heat for the recent French banking scandal ... which is becoming a story with many far-reaching tentacles- there are whispers of Halliburton, a secret CIA-Clique (reminiscent of the Star Chamber), the Bin-Laden option"trades", secret infiltration of the European banking system by ArAms, and it all may eventually get back to our beloved (and aptly-named) "Vice" President. Keep you eye on this site for upcoming salacious details: http://www.halliburtonwatch.org/ BTW an "ArAm" is short for ArabAmerican, which is more an earned distinction, based on avarice ... more than anything racial or ethnic. It comes from the former 'suits' of this outfit, which is now the largest corporation in the World, Exxon notwithstanding: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aramco They (ArAms in general and Aramco in particular) actually have far more net wealth than the entire United States of America ... which recently, under the watchful anti-terrorist-eyes of the Bush Administration, has sunk to become a net-debtor nation. (no exaggeration) Jack writes: The Oil Gang is insatiable. They are like vampires who, when gorged on blood, want it more than ever. They will certainly get what they can before their boy leaves office. Jones wrote: ... Don't know if all of the above was necessary to get a grip on this- but here is an understated story from Reuters which may illustrate some of this problem of trying to determine "what is real" and what is abstraction, in the News of the day. HONG KONG - Incredulous equity traders said on Monday they wanted a better explanation from Societe Generale for how a single rogue trader managed to build up a $73 billion position and cause the French bank to lose $7 billion. "I think most people are just astonished that someone could get away with that kind of trade for so long without being noticed," said Matt McKeith, head of equity dealing at First State Investments in Hong Kong. "I'd always be slightly suspicious of the company line in these circumstances." Societe Generale said the trader, 31-year-old Jerome Kerviel, created fictitious accounts to make it look as though his positions had been covered, when in fact they remained unhedged, and falsified documents to justify his actions. Jack writes: Hi Jones. Would you please give me the url for the above Reuters story? Jones wrote: [SocGen almost immediately called for an equity "infusion". Translation- a shift in ownership. No problem there, right Do-Buy?] Equity traders were foxed by the explanation, especially since the relatively lowly Kerviel appeared to make no personal profit from his gamble, and were flummoxed as to his motives. [Personal profits can be sown in Paree, and harvested in Do-Buy] BTW Kerviel, at the time of this incident, was making about one-tenth the salary of a Wall Street trader with the same responsibility; and French Banks are notorious for low bonuses. No wonder he was so easy to recruit. Bottom line for Jerry? Even after a short stint (for his health) in La Santé, Kerviel if he is not "Vinced" as they say, will probably have some nice 'digs' waiting for him in the world's tallest hotel ... Jack writes: The construction (?tallest hotel?) going on in Do-Buy is almost beyond belief -- talk about the Tower of Babel. Where is all this money coming from? Didn't they offer to buy out the U. S. port operations? Didn't they just pump billions into Citibank? Is there a list of this stuff somewhere? How many trillions has the Bush family (extended) made since 9-11-01? As a side note, I recently saw "The Good Shepherd" which, along with a lot of Skull and Bones footage, says that a founder of the CIA was blackmailed by the Russians into telling them where and when the Bay of Pigs invasion was to take place. So JFK was hit by the Mafia by mistake? (A Mafia hit is just one theory -- there is a JFK plan to tell the public about contact with aliens, a JFK withdrawal from Viet Nam, JFK issuing Treasury bills like Lincoln issued greenbacks, etc.)
